Where the Future Can Lead
by Jaida857
Summary: "I have to go…" she whispered in her tinkling voice, catching everyone by surprise. Jasper got a sudden panicked look on his face at her words. "Go? What do you mean go? Go where?" -Set after Breaking Dawn-spoilers- T for violence and later chapters. On hiatus until further notice.
1. Prologue: The Boy in the Woods

**This prologue is mostly to see what people think so far, and to give you something until I actually start the story. I'll get into the real story, and put a bigger author's note at the beginning of chapter 1. So, because the only two characters mentioned in this are mine, I'll also do the disclaimer later.  
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><p>The young girl stumbled over a tree branch in the ground as she fought her way through the dense forest. She let out a small sound of surprise when a branch came back to whack her, but she simply pushed it aside and kept walking. She knew exactly what she was getting herself into, but she hadn't expected to get lost in a forest. She just needed to find a bus station and then she would be long gone before anyone noticed. Of course, that was proving to be much harder than she had hoped. To avoid being seen by a passing car, she had wandered into the outskirts of the forest that surrounded her neighborhood, but she had wandered in too far. It was her first time attempting to navigate its maze of branches and leaves, and she was having next to no luck. Luckily for her, it wouldn't be getting dark for another few hours, but a thick layer of clouds was just beginning to cover the sun, and with the canopy overhead, it was difficult to see where she was going.<p>

With a dramatic sigh, she let her legs give out and sat down on the ground, leaning her head back against the nearest tree. Deciding it was time for a snack break, she pulled her black backpack off and unzipped it, grabbing out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich she had made before leaving. She was just about to take it out of its plastic baggie when she heard a twig snap behind her. Jumping to her feet, she whipped around to see a boy standing behind her. He looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, with golden blonde hair and blood red eyes that did nothing to calm her nerves. A single shaft of light broke through the barrier overhead, shining directly where he was standing, and to her amazement, his skin was sparkling, like a million diamonds. When he opened his mouth to speak, his voice nearly took her off her feet.

"Are you lost?" he asked simply, tilting his head slightly. It took a moment for her to find her voice, for she had never seen such a dazzling human being before in her life. The only thing unsettling about him were his eyes, which bore into hers, keeping her paralyzed, until he blinked slowly, breaking her from her trance, and allowing her to answer.

"Yes," she replied, clearing her throat before continuing. "Can you help me get out?"

He didn't speak again. The two of them stood there, analyzing each other, although she was more distracted by the sparkles on his skin. He was wearing jeans and a black hoodie, and he was barefoot, which surprised her, seeing as she was fairly cold, but he didn't seem bothered by it. When he watched her, he noticed everything. She was young- very young, ten at the most. He could tell she was very curious about him, but who wouldn't be? Without a word, he held out his hand to her, and, still mesmerized by this stranger, she slowly walked forward to take it. Her offered her a smile, before gently pulling her along, further through the shadows of the forest.

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><p><strong>Yeah... review?<strong>


	2. The Vision That Changed Everything

**First, disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or any of its characters, or this version of vampires, werewolves etc. Credit to Stephenie Meyer. I do own the new character that will come in later, and she'll be easy to recognize.**

**Okay, here's the real start of the story. I wasn't even planning on doing a prologue, but it randomly came to me and seemed like a good intro. Now, this is set after Breaking Dawn, but please keep in mind that I have yet to re-read the book. I'm on Eclipse as of now, so I'll do my best to remember all the little details. If you have any complaints of facts I got wrong, just let me know and I'll fix it/let everyone know I made a mistake. Now, I believe Breaking Dawn ended in… January? February? That sounds about right. Well, I don't have time to figure out which of those months it was, but this story starts in late May. For the sake of the story, Renesmee is going to have the appearance of a nine/ten year old. I'll explain other things mostly in the next chapter, unless it's part of the plot. So… yeah. Enjoy my first Twilight fanfiction!  
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><p>She raced through the forest at an unbelievable speed, a blur to any human eyes, but not to her family who ran alongside her. In fact, the speed was considered normal for her kind. With no risk of being seen, she was free to run as fast as she liked.<p>

Alice Cullen dodged around a tree with ease, her movement's beyond graceful as always. Her mind was set on one thing and one thing only: the small pack of deer just ahead. Running through the forest with her were a few members of her adopted family, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and then Jasper, who was so much more to her than words could describe. Soul mate was what they called it, because that was exactly what they were to each other. Even before they met they were destined to be together for all eternity, and that was exactly what fate allowed them to have.

He was the only other thing she noticed while trying to keep focused on the animals she was chasing. She always noticed him- he was her other half, and even during hunting trips that required complete focus to catch her prey, her mind couldn't stay off of him for long. Alice knew he felt the same about her, of course his instincts took over a little more than hers did, being the newest to a "vegetarian diet" as they liked to call it. He was getting much better though- it especially helped that they weren't in school for the time being.

She was gaining on one. It was a big one, not the leader of the herd, but it was good enough for her. Mere meters in front of her, she could almost taste the blood that pulsed through its veins. One more step and she would-

Suddenly she stopped mid-stride, a perfect statue, staring ahead at nothing. Her family sensed this and slowed to a stop next to her, allowing their prey to escape, for this was much more important. In an instant, Jasper was at her side, holding her steady as images unseen by anyone else flashed before her eyes.

_A little girl. Human, obviously. She was in a forest, with trees so thick they blocked out almost all the sunlight. She wasn't alone. A boy was with her, and he was no human. Red eyes… they appeared to be talking, and then he lunged for her, cutting off her scream as he drained the life out of her, until there was nothing left but a dead body and a small pool of blood…_

They could easily tell when Alice came out of her trance, because she blinked several times and gave her head a slight shake. She felt a gentle squeeze on her arm and looked next to her to see Jasper holding her, his dark eyes filled with curiosity and worry, as they always were after she had a vision. Her eyes darted over the other members of her family for half a second before resting again on Jasper. No one spoke up for several seconds to ask her what she saw, but the curiosity became too much and besides, Jasper could tell she was on edge, not only because he could read the emotions of any person, but because he knew her well enough to know when something was bothering her.

"What did you see?" he asked softly, meant for her ears only, but of course everyone else heard. Alice hesitated for moment, unsure of what to say. It took her an even less amount of time to come to a decision.

"I have to go…" she whispered in her tinkling voice, catching everyone by surprise. Jasper got a sudden panicked look on his face at her words.

"Go? What do you mean go? Go where?" He asked frantically. Alice gazed into his eyes, seeing the concern for her, but she knew what she had to do.

"I… I don't know yet," she replied. "I'll be back, I promise, but I have to go. Now."

"What could be so urgent that you'd have to go off by yourself like this?" inquired Carlisle, voicing what the others were thinking. Alice looked over to her family, seeing the same concern reflected in their eyes, but there was something different in theirs than in Jasper's. He trusted her, but he loved her too much to let her go running off alone just because of a vision. Of course her family cared about her, but most of the time they were able to risk anything to follow her visions. Jasper on the other hand, while he would risk his own life, if he had one, for her in less than a second, he refused to let her risk her own.

"It's complicated," Alice answered. "I'll explain when I get back. I shouldn't be long."

"I'm going with you then," said Jasper, his eyes telling her he had already made his decision. "If this is so important, than I'm coming."

"I have to go alone," she explained, although she herself didn't even know why. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"You don't know that. You don't even know where you're going, and I'm not risking it."

"I'm sorry," was all she said before carefully getting herself out of his embrace. He let go of her instantly, never one to go against her wishes, but this was crossing the line. She danced over to her family to give them quick hugs and kisses goodbye, and then at Carlisle's nod, he, Esme and Emmett ran off to give the two of them some time. Alice walked back over to Jasper, placing her hand under his chin and bringing his face just centimeters from hers, her cold breath tickling his lips. She allowed him to hold her again, because she could practically feel the conflict within him at her decision. She hated to see him this way, but she wouldn't be doing it if she thought she had a choice in the matter.

"I'll be back before you know it," she promised, a smile finding its way into her face. Before he could get a word out, she closed the small distance between them, their lips meeting each others. The kiss lasted for no longer than a second, because then she was taking off into the forest, leaving him behind without so much as a leaf stirred up from the ground.

"Alice!" he called out, not ready to say goodbye to her just yet.

"Just trust me!" she called back, before disappearing from his sight completely. He could have followed her easily, and he almost did, but what she said stopped him. He did trust her. He would have been a fool not to, but it was much more than that. The bond they shared couldn't be described with mere words, but he trusted her enough to know that she knew perfectly well what she was doing, and that he should accept it. He didn't have to like it, but no matter how much he worried, he knew that Alice was more than capable of taking care of herself. And so, after watching the spot where he last saw her for a moment longer, Jasper slowly turned around and ran back through the forest, intent on catching up with his family.

She promised she would be back soon. And so she would.

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><p><strong>I love this first chapter. So, I'll do my absolute best to stay as in character as I can, so I apologize now if I'm no good at it. I'll also do my best to stay consistent with the updates, but I do have a life, and I do have homework, so don't expect me to update every day. One thing I can promise you: I will finish this story. I don't randomly go into a story unless I have enough of a plot-line to go off of so I won't run out of ideas. So, what did you think? <strong>


	3. Alice's Return

**Thanks to everyone who's read my story up to this point! I hope you like it!**

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><p>"It's been four days! How long does she expect us to wait?"<p>

Jasper was becoming increasingly concerned for Alice, who after running off, hadn't been seen for the past four days. She never did things like this- scratch that, she never did things like this without Jasper coming with her. It was all he could do not to go racing after her, but even he knew it would get him nowhere. The trail would be gone and they had no way of finding her.

"Just calm down Jasper," he heard Edward say from where he was sitting on the couch with Bella. "Alice always knows what she's doing."

"But she told us herself. She said she didn't even know where she was going, and now no one's seen her for days. What if something happened?"

"You're overreacting," Edward told him, reading the deeper worry in his mind.

"Am I? So I'm just supposed to sit her and wait for her to come back? I can't do that, I need to go after her."

"There's no need for that. The trail's gone by now anyways."

"Would you do it?" Jasper asked, his dark eyes on his adopted brother. "If you were in my position. If Bella ran off without an explanation and told you to wait here until she was done, would you be able to do it?"

Edward sighed, and Jasper turned away, knowing he'd won that conversation. Unable to keep still, he began pacing the living room. What could she possibly have seen that told her she needed to go gallivanting off without any type of explanation? Alice was nothing if not careful. Well, she was a lot of things, but that was beside the point. Jasper was just about to ignore the warnings and go off to find her when he heard it.

It was quiet, almost too silent to hear, but he heard it, ringing through his ears loud and clear. A laugh. A quiet giggle that sounded like twinkling bells in a soft breeze. It was her laugh. He would know that laugh anywhere.

Without hesitating for a second, he spun around and raced out the already open back door. In a flash he was at the bottom of the steps, the rest of his family coming up behind him, having just heard it as well and seen his reaction. The trees were thick behind their house, and she wasn't running, but it was only a matter of seconds until she came into view.

At first, all Jasper felt was relief. She may have taken a few days, but she was back, and she was obviously fine, laughing even. She looked up and a smile flashed across her face when she saw her family standing there. It was then that he saw what was new, and if he had a heart, it would have skipped a beat.

Alice was carrying a child on her back, one that was laughing along with her, and one that was definitely not human.

It was the little girl that stopped him from running, or in his case, sprinting forward to pick her up and spin her around in his arms. His mind raced almost too fast for him to comprehend. An immortal child. But she wouldn't have, never, not in a million years, not when she knew what trouble it would cause. She couldn't have, but what else could it be? And she didn't look guilty about anything, she looked happy.

When Alice finally stopped in front of them, she let the little girl down to stand next to her. The girl was young in appearance, looking to be about ten. She had flowing dark brown hair that stopped just below her shoulders, and her face was breathtaking, as to be expected. Her eyes were blood-red, the red color that newborns eyes were, or a vampire who drank human's blood. When she clearly saw the six vampires standing before her, her eyes grew panicked and she ducked behind Alice, who was about to open her mouth to explain before anyone assumed anything, when Edward spoke up.

"She hasn't done what you all think she has," he said quickly, and all eyes turned to him, including the little girl, who peeked around Alice. "I read her mind. She had a vision of this girl being killed by one of our kind, so she went to rescue her. When she got there it was too late, the transformation had already begun. But she did save this girls life, if not her soul."

No one spoke for several long seconds. All eyes were on the girl, who cowered in fear, except for Jasper, who had been watching Alice since she came into view. Now that she was really back, he couldn't think of what to say to her. Luckily for him, someone else spoke to fill the silence.

"It's good to have you back Alice," Carlisle said, stepping forward to stand next to Jasper. "It seems we have a lot of catching up to do. We should move inside. Is she…?"

He trailed off, not wanting to alarm the young girl, but Alice understood what he was saying.

"She's fine," Alice replied, glancing at the girl behind her and smiling warmly. "We hunted on the way back."

Carlisle nodded, figuring that since Renesmee was out with Jacob, they would have time to talk until they got back, because that was when things would get complicated. He turned to lead them back inside, most of the others following. Alice turned around to face the girl, who was looking very nervous with the current situation, and looked hesitant to follow the others.

"You're perfectly safe here," Alice assured her, bending down to her level. "We'll take care of you."

"But I'm scared," she said, speaking for the first time since arriving, her voice like the wind. Alice smiled sympathetically, knowing how it would be for her, with all that had happened to her in the last couple days.

"Everything will be fine Tayla," Alice promised her, addressing her by her name this time. "I promised you I'd keep you safe, and I will."

Tayla nodded slowly- well, slow for a vampire- though she still made no move to go inside. And then, a sudden feeling of ease set over them. Alice hid a smile, recognizing the trick that was so often used in situations such as this. She straightened up and turned around, seeing Jasper still standing there waiting for her. She smiled, and started walking towards him, Tayla following closely, clutching the fabric of Alice's shirt in her hands. They stopped next to him, and Alice carefully slid her hand into his, offering him that smile she reserved especially for him. This made him smile as well, despite the circumstances.

"Welcome home," he whispered, leaning into to kiss her lightly on the forehead. She laughed quietly.

"I missed you," she said in reply, and then the three of them made their way inside the house.

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><p>When they were all settled, Alice was seated on the couch, with Jasper on one side of her, and Tayla on the other, one hand held tightly in Jasper's. Alice used her other hand to hold onto Tayla's arm, not forcefully, but a necessary precaution. The young girl had been changed so recently that she needed to be watched and kept in order until she learned to control herself.<p>

Esme sat on the other side of the girl, her motherly instincts never forgotten. This would have made Tayla very nervous, as would the entire situation, but Jasper was still keeping the emotions in the room under control, making her feel more comfortable with the circumstances. Edward and Bella sat on the couch opposite the one they were on, with Carlisle standing beside it, and Rosalie leaning against the wall behind, her expression less than pleased, Emmett by her side.

"Why don't you start by telling us what happened since you left," Carlisle suggested to start the conversation. Alice thought for less than half a second before starting her story.

"Well, Edward told you what my vision showed me. I don't know why, but it told me I needed to save Tayla, so I went to find her. I travelled north for about half a day, until I found another of our kind beginning to feed on her. When he saw me he got scared and ran off. Obviously he didn't kill her, but the venom had spread already. I took her to a safe place while she went through the transformation, and waited with her. When it was complete, I explained to her what had happened, and she agreed to come back here with me.

"It took longer getting back, because we stayed as far as we could away from any humans, and we hunted on the way here. Tayla's agreed to try to live off animal's blood, but she hasn't come in contact with a human since changing. I told her a bit about Nessie, enough to tell her to be careful. Now we just need to decide what's going to happen."

There was silence for a few short seconds as everyone processed the information. A few things stood out in everyone's mind. If the Volturi found out, there would be huge trouble, regardless of who did the real biting. There was also Renesmee to consider. She was part human, and, with the exception of her own mother, she would be hard to resist for any newborn, if it were even possible to treat her as human.

While these thoughts did cross through Jasper's mind, they were almost nothing compared to what he thought about Alice bringing home a child vampire. Maybe her vision had told her to save Tayla, but it didn't make it seem any less foolish. Did Alice really expect to take responsibility for her? He wouldn't go all the way to say he was angry with her, because that never happened. Surprised was a better word. Then again, she was always a very strange girl.

"There is the Volturi to consider," Edward spoke up, saying what he knew was on everyone's mind. "If they learn of this, they'll send someone to deal with her. We won't be able to fight back, because they would have every right to do it."

"I don't think she's dangerous," Alice said. "She seems like she can control herself away from humans, and I think she can learn to control herself around them."

"It's still against our laws," Rosalie added, her expression hard. "Unless she has some useful gift, they'll get rid of her."

"Rosalie's right," Esme murmured, worried for the girl. "They will need to be informed of this one way or another."

"And there's Renesmee," Bella said. "It may have been easy enough for me, but I wasn't exactly your normal newborn."

"You think she can control herself Alice?" Carlisle inquired, his gaze flickering to Tayla, who watched them talk about her, half hidden behind Alice. "If not, then we have an immediate problem."

"It's hard to say for sure," Alice replied, her face twisting in annoyance. "I can't see Nessie, so I don't know what will happen. But when Tayla and I were on our way back here, she was able to think rationally during hunting. While there were no humans in the area, but there was their lingering scent from days before. With a little help, she ignored them."

"Can I ask something?" came a small voice from behind Alice. Tayla peeked her head out, her brown hair falling in front of her eyes, as all eyes in the room turned to her. Jasper was careful to keep the mood under control. Carlisle nodded to her to speak, his face kind. The young girl hesitated a second before speaking.

"I only understood half of what you were saying, but I know you were talking about what happens to me now. Do you know if I can stay here, or do I have to leave? Because Alice said I can't go back home. She said it's safer for me here."

"For now, you can stay here," answered Carlisle. "I'm sure she explained how we only feed on animals. If you can do that as well, I see no reason why you can't remain with us."

As soon as he finished speaking, a few things happened. One, before she could be seen or smelled by any of them, there came the sound of a tree falling down just outside their house. Those who were sitting down jumped to their feet to face the young girl who was walking through the back door. Renesmee skipped happily inside, not yet seeing the new arrival. Alice's arm flashed out, blocking Tayla from moving towards her.

"Sorry about the noise, Jacob knocked a tree down," Renesmee said to them. "Oh, he said they're having a party later, so can I go to-"

She cut off when she noticed the unfamiliar vampire standing in the room.

"Hi," Renesmee greeted her curiously, her head tilting to the side. While she had been warned, Tayla was completely unprepared for the girl that stood before her. The scent was enough to drive her senses wild. She bared her teeth unconsciously, and a small hiss escaped her lips.

"You told me about her," Tayla managed to get out, her throat burning. Alice nodded, her eyes flashing between the two young girls, unable to anticipate what was going to happen, what with her blind spot with Renesmee. Everyone else in the room, save for Jasper, who still stood by Alice's side, moved subtly to guard Renesmee, who didn't seem to recognize the danger in the room. Without thinking about it, Tayla took a small step forward.

Alice closed her hand on Tayla's arm, gently but firmly, keeping the girl from taking another step. Another small hiss escaped her lips, and she looked up pleadingly at Alice.

"It hurts," she whimpered, her gaze flicking back to Renesmee, who still made no move to leave the room. Jasper worked to keep the mood calm, but it was difficult with a newborn.

"I know," Alice replied after a moment. "But you'll get used to it. It's easier than you think."

Before anyone else could say anything, everyone but Renesmee cringed slightly at the new scent that entered the air. A second later, Jacob burst into the room, laughing, obviously from the tree he had somehow knocked over, and stopped next to Renesmee.

"Hey, did Nessie ask about-"

He cut off as soon as he saw Tayla, baring his teeth and stepping in front of Renesmee.

"What's this?" he hissed, feeling very protective of the girl he guarded. She peeked around him, still having received no answers about Tayla. Her hand pressed lightly to Jacob's arm, silently asking him what was going on.

"I don't know," he replied to her unspoken question, his eyes never leaving Tayla. "What is going on?"

"Alice rescued this girl from being killed," Carlisle explained to them. "That's why she left. They just returned. She wasn't able to stop it before the venom spread however. We were just deciding what to do."

"Is she dangerous?" growled Jacob. When Alice looked to Tayla, she looked almost frightened now, while still thirsty.

"That's hardly necessary," Alice said in reply.

"I said, is she dangerous," he repeated, a noticeable edge to his voice. Alice sighed.

"This is the first time she's been exposed to anyone with human blood. She hasn't attacked yet, which is a good sign."

"Why don't you take Nessie back to our house," suggested Bella, trying to remain calm while she was really worrying for her daughter. "We'll meet you there soon."

"Fine. C'mon." Jacob agreed. Renesmee took his hand and he swiftly led her out of the room, and soon they were out of sight. Everyone relaxed when they were gone, including Tayla, who visibly calmed down. Alice released the girl's arm from her grasp, and managed to get her sitting on the couch again.

"Why was my throat burning?" croaked Tayla, who was still trying to fight against her urge not to go chasing after Renesmee.

"I told you that she's half human," Alice told her. "You're still young, and her blood will appeal to you more than animals will. Don't worry, we all know what it's like. In a few months, it will be easy."

Alice knew she was probably exaggerating a bit, because it normally took around a year to learn the type of control it took not to attack every human you came in contact with.

Feeling that tension in the room was peaking, Jasper did his best to control it, but it was hard when he couldn't even control his own emotions. He was dying- theoretically- to speak with Alice alone, but he knew it was hardly the time to ask. However, whether it was his ability reflecting his current mood, or the fact that his family knew him very well, they all seemed to pick up on this.

"Why don't you let me take Tayla to get cleaned up," suggested Esme, smiling knowingly at her adopted son. "We can let Alice and Jasper catch up a bit."

Tayla's expression turned panicked, but that quickly subsided with a little help from Jasper. Esme smiled warmly at her to help keep her at ease.

"It'll be alright," Alice assured Tayla, everyone standing up now that the conversation was clearly over. "I won't be gone long. Go with Esme, she'll take care of you."

With some reluctance, the young girl agreed. Esme led her upstairs, followed by Carlisle, while Bella and Edward disappeared to go meet Renesmee and Jacob. Rosalie was looking very annoyed, and she departed upstairs to her room with Emmett in pursuit, leaving Alice and Jasper alone downstairs.

"Shall we walk?" Alice asked, gesturing to the open back door. Jasper agreed, and the two of them walked out into the woods together, happy to at least be together again.

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><p><strong>Don't worry, I will go into what happened when Alice was gone with more detail, probably in the next chapter, and if not the one after. Now, the main characters of this story are obviously Alice, Jasper, and Tayla. I may do small parts every once in a while about the others, but most scenes will include one of the three of them. I'll be sticking with 3rd person for the entire story.<strong>

**Now, when I checked in my settings to see how many people actually read my story, the last time I checked the number was at 88. I have two people who have reviewed so far (sistergrimm97 and twilighter706) and just to let you know, I allow anonymous reviews, and I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of my story! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Unnatural

Alice and Jasper waited until they were deep in the forest to begin talking. There was still a slight tension between them, but it was mostly on Jasper's part. Alice literally danced between the trees, spinning around in the mid-day sunlight that broke through the thick cover, making her skin sparkle. Jasper found that he was unable to take his eyes off her. She was just so beautiful, so perfect… and yet he couldn't completely agree with what she had done. He followed silently behind her until she skipped back to him to take his hand, both of them slowing down and walking together.

"You never said a word when we were talking with Tayla," she commented, her eyes flickering to his. Jasper sighed.

"Well, it was difficult to keep everyone's emotions under control," he explained, pausing before going on. "Alice, I'm not so sure bringing her here was the best idea."

A short moment of annoyance flashed through Alice's mind, detected by Jasper of course, but it quickly subsided into curiosity.

"I know what you were all thinking. Why did I bother going out to save her? Why is she so important?"

Jasper waited for Alice to answer her own questions, but she had fallen silent, her eyes half staring at something unseen.

"So why did you save her?" he finally asked, her silence and lack of emotion worrying him. She laughed quietly.

"I don't know for sure," she replied. "My visions don't always tell me everything, but they tell me what I need to know. It told me I needed to go after her, but I don't know why. I've been looking into her future, and ours, but she's… difficult."

Alice fell silent once again, annoyance breaking through her apathetic appearance. Neither of them said a word for several seconds until it became too much for Jasper.

"What do you mean she's difficult?" he asked, his eyes never leaving her face. She stared straight ahead, though he could see she wasn't entirely in the moment.

"It's hard to explain. You know how I can't see werewolves, and I can't see Renesmee? Well, it's not entirely like that, but a couple times when I've tried looking into Tayla's future, I can't see it. It's almost like she's keeping me out. I mean, I've been able to see a few things, but they were only short glimpses, like tonight she's going to try to sneak away."

"What?" hissed Jasper at the surprising news. "We have to stop her. She could be dangerous to the town."

"Already taken care of," Alice informed him. "She's scared and confused and she'll try to run when she thinks we're not looking. All we have to do is have someone guard the back door and she'll stop long enough to listen to us."

Jasper sighed in relief. A newborn on the loose would be a big problem for them, and they would need to get rid of her, one way or another, if it came to that. Even though it had been his job when he was with Maria, it didn't mean he liked it.

"For now, we just need to keep a close eye on her," continued Alice. "If we play this right, the Volturi don't need to know, and we can teach her to control herself around Renesmee."

"That's good to hear," Jasper said, detecting nervousness in her emotions. "So what exactly did happen while you were gone? I know you told everyone earlier, but I doubt you told them everything."

Alice laughed shortly without emotion, her mind wandering back to the past four days. She slowed down until they were both standing perfectly still save for the unnecessary breathing act they had adopted. When she spoke, her voice was faint.

"I traveled north until I came to the forest I saw in my vision," she began, staring at the ground. "When I arrived, I managed to pick up the scent of another vampire in the area. I followed the trail for about an hour until I found them. It was a boy, looking to be fifteen, our kind. He was feeding on Tayla, and I could see that she was nearly dead. That's when he saw me. He looked like he wanted to fight me, but something scared him, and he ran off.

"I tried to help her, but I could see it was too late. I had managed to get him off her before he drained all of her blood, but there was already venom in her veins. Within a few minutes she began to register the pain, and that's when she started screaming. I sat with her for two and a half days until the transformation was complete. When she was one of us, I told her what we were, and I told her that if she came back with me, we could keep her safe.

"We traveled back more slowly, avoiding all human contact. I showed her how to hunt, and she wasn't half bad at it. She didn't stray far from me the whole time- I think I made quite an impression on her during her transformation. Once, we did come across the scent of humans. They would have been far away, because the trail was old, but she managed to listen to me and think rationally about it instead of running after the scent.

"There's something about her. Even I can't quite wrap my head around it, but she's different from any vampire I've met before. As far as I know, she doesn't possess any abilities, but she's still young. You never know. I think she has something though. If she didn't, she wouldn't have been worth going after. There has to be a reason I saw her and had to go after her. It would have to be worth all the trouble we could get into."

She stopped talking after that, her eyes far away. Jasper had listened to the entire explanation in silence, and now one thing was burning especially hot in his mind. What was so special about her? Alice had said it herself, there had to be something that made her worth saving. Now they just had to figure out what.

"I can understand how hard this must be for the two of you," he said finally. Alice looked up at him, and he allowed a smile onto his face. "I can understand better than most others can. But don't worry about a thing. We're all going to make sure she's fine. And I'll make extra sure that you are."

Alice smiled in amusement, and laughed when Jasper picked her up into his arms and spun her around as he had wanted to the second he got her back. Right now, it didn't matter how much trouble they would be in. All that mattered was that he had her back, and that she was here to stay.

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><p>Tayla didn't know much of what was going on, but she did know one thing: she wasn't sticking around long enough to find out. It was all too weird and too scary and too different for her liking. Alice had been nice to her, but she was very scared. <em>Vampire. <em>The word echoed in her mind, amplifying a thousand times louder and stronger until she felt like screaming. Impossible. Vampires were in the books she read at school, and in the movies on TV that she was too young to watch. Vampires were not nice people who sparkled in the sunlight and could survive on animals alone. Vampires were supposed to be monsters.

Tayla did not want to be a monster.

Alice told her that they would protect her, but she barely knew her enough to trust her. Maybe she had saved her life, but she remembered the pain. It was… indescribable. Imagine the worst pain you've ever felt in your entire life. Now imagine that spread throughout your entire body. Now imagine it a millions times worse, and imagine you're also on fire. Not even close. That doesn't even come close to what had had endured for what Alice said had been over two days. She had been screaming for Alice to kill her, so why didn't she listen? Even now she wished she were dead. This was all too much for a ten year old girl to go through. Tayla didn't want this. She didn't want to live forever by drinking blood and hiding from humans. And her eyes… they were the brightest red. They scared her. She wanted her old green eyes back.

She was also too beautiful. Before, she had been just another cute ten year-old, but now she was breathtaking. Not a flaw in her skin, or a fault anywhere on her perfect body. It was wrong. Unnatural. Every girl wanted to be pretty, but Tayla had never wanted to be so beautiful that it was terrifying to look in the mirror. Alice told her that her eyes would turn a golden-brown like hers if she survived off animals. That wouldn't be as bad as red, but they still wouldn't be hers. There wasn't anything she could think of that she wanted more than her old life back, no matter how terrible it had been, and no matter how much it hurt to-

"I think this will fit you," Esme said, pulling her from her deep thoughts. Tayla looked up from where she was sitting on a large and unnecessary bed to see the woman holding up a dress that looked just her size. It was dark green, with no sleeves, and a black ribbon tying it off at the waist.

"It's one of Renesmee's," Esme explained, and Tayla flinched.

"Don't worry, she hasn't worn it yet," assured Esme, making the young girl feel a little better. She slowly stood up from where she sat, feeling even more anxious that Alice wasn't there with her. Regardless of how much she wished she had listened to Tayla in her death pleads, she trusted Alice a heck of a lot more than the others.

"Thanks," she mumbled, wincing slightly at how her voice sounded. It was so wrong. Her voice wasn't normally that high, or that melodic. Of course, she would have to get used to a whole new normal after her unfortunate encounter with the fascinating boy in the woods who ended up trying to kill her.

She took the dress from Esme, who smiled and left the room to give her some privacy. Tayla swiftly changed into the new dress, admiring herself in the mirror. She had to admit, the dress was beautiful, while she avoided looking at her face, but even her skin was wrong. It was white, pale white, and it shimmered in the light. She laughed bitterly. Weren't vampires also supposed to not show up in mirrors? Then again, when she thought about it, the real type of vampires were a lot more appealing than what little knowledge she thought she possessed before.

Tayla sighed, and as she turned away, her eyes unwillingly flicked up to her face in the mirror before she could look away. She felt like crying, if she could. What had she done wrong? What had she done to deserve being damned for all eternity? Yes, she knew that word. She heard it enough back home. Never in her life had she done something so terrible that she would be given such a punishment.

But it didn't matter. She was going to find a way to solve it, and she was gaining nothing by staying with the Cullen's. She was going to get out of there.

_Tonigh__t,_ she thought, forcing her gaze away from the mirror. _I'll leave tonight._

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><p><strong>Yes, this chapter was2 a bit shorter than the last one. Well, not including the authors note, it was just over 2000 words, so I'm satisfied. Oh, by the way, I'm going to see Breaking Dawn part 1 in theaters again today! :D Can't wait! OMG I can't wait for part 2! I am dying a little inside at having to wait a year… what does this have to do with my story? Absolutely nothing. Bye! <strong>


	5. Newborn

**Thanks to everyone who's added my story to their favourites or alerted it, and thanks to those of you who took the time to review! I'm glad you guys are enjoying it so far! Sorry if sometimes I take long to update- I've been busy lately with rock climbing and family stuff, not to mention like twenty tests in school, but I'll have winter break to hopefully write a lot! Also, I decided to have a short scene in this chapter that would be one of the first not to have at least one of the main characters. I hope you like it!**

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><p>While the transformation had been the most painful for Tayla, it had been the first time Alice had seen what normally occurs, and it hadn't been easy for her at all. When Bella had been changed, she lay perfectly still the entire time, the only signs that she was still alive being her heart beat and the slight twitch of her fingers for a second. With Tayla, she screamed for over two days straight.<p>

The second Alice had realized it was too late to save Tayla as a human, she had controlled her thirst as best she could and knelt down next to the girl, who was just beginning to comprehend the pain. It started as a quiet whimpering, and then the screams broke loose. Alice had to force herself not to cover her ears or leave, but it was hard, even more so when Tayla began begging for death. At first she had screamed wordlessly, unable to form coherent thoughts or words. It was like that for the first several hours, and those hours were actually the easiest for Alice to sit through, it easy is the right term.

About six hours after beginning the transformation, Tayla had been feeling the pain for long enough to be able to focus on forming words in her mind. The sounds changed, becoming more like extremely violent sobs with louder screams mixed in every few seconds. A few minutes after she started sobbing, Tayla was finally able to get a word out, and so she began to cry and scream for Alice to kill her and end the pain.

It was all Alice could do not to comply. Besides, it's difficult to kill someone already so far into the transformation. The venom makes every part of them exponentially stronger until the pain begins to ebb away. To kill Tayla, Alice would have needed to do it much like disposing of a regular vampire, ripping her apart and burning the pieces, but it would have taken longer to separate the limbs, which in turn would have caused the pain to worsen until it was done. That could have taken hours, and besides, Alice wasn't going to kill her after bothering to find her and save her. Because of that, Alice stayed by her side for the entire time, while Tayla screamed and cried and begged for death a hundred times over.

The screams only got worse when the burning changed for Tayla. It began to recede from her fingertips, but only got hotter in her heart. Her shrieks turned wordless once again and became louder and more frequent. This continued until the moment the fire stopped, and then Tayla lay there for the next several seconds, unmoving with her eyes shut tightly. When she opened them, she shot to her feet in a fraction of a second, suddenly aware of everything around her. Every leaf on the ground she could see its intricate design perfectly; every drop of dew on the grass was like a crystal, reflecting light in a thousand ways she had never seen before; and most frightening of all, she could see the sun sparkling on her pale white skin as it broke through the thick cover of foliage.

In the next half second, Tayla realized a few more things. One, she wasn't breathing, and she felt no discomfort at that fact at all, although she quickly took in a small breath. Second, her throat was burning in the different way than it had been before, like she hadn't had anything to drink in weeks. Third, she had just been burning alive, and the person that stood mere meters away from her had done nothing to help. Her natural newborn instincts taking over, she did the most expected thing. She attacked.

Alice had seen it coming of course, and danced to the side to avoid her. Tayla attacked her a few more times before seeming to get her thoughts in order to realize that it would do no good. She kept a few feet away, having never seen this new person before, and studied her curiously. She was very short, barely even making five feet, with spiky black hair and dark golden eyes. Her face seemed kind, welcoming even, though she made no move forward. They stayed that way for the next three seconds until Alice spoke.

"I'm sure you're very scared and confused right now," she had said, surprising Tayla with her voice, which sounded almost too high, too bell-like. "One thing I can promise you is that you're safe with me. I won't let anything happen to you from now on if you come back with me."

Tayla had taken a moment to consider what she was saying. On one hand, she didn't know who this girl was, and she had ignored her screams begging for death. On the other hand, not only did she seem to know what was going on, and she was Tayla's best way to figure it out, there was a strange feeling of trust that settled over her when she thought rationally. And so, placing her trust and her life in this stranger, Tayla accepted the offer of help.

Now, she waited for Alice to return, feeling bad that she would be running off, but she figured it was the only way. Besides, there was no way she could stay in that house around the half-human any longer. She had been told that Renesmee was not coming back for a few days, spending time on the Reservation with Jacob instead. Tayla was perfectly fine with that- she could still remember how her throat burned when she was in the room.

The young girl was incredibly tense while she waited, because she did so while sitting on the sofa in the living room, with half of the Cullens there with her, not including Alice and Jasper, who had yet to return. Edward and Bella were still at their cottage, and the remaining four sat around her in silence. Esme sat on the couch next to her, but kept her distance, knowing she wasn't terribly comfortable with the situation. Carlisle's sat on Esme's other side, both of them pretending they were watching the television, which Emmett had turned on. He sat on the chair next to the couch, very focused on the football game that was showing.

The other member of the family who remained was Rosalie, and she was very obviously staring at Tayla, her expression unreadable. She looked as if she were simply assessing the girl, trying to decide what to make of her. Tayla never looked at her; she never looked at anyone. Instead she let her eyes travel swiftly around the room, over and over again, half trying to decide how to make her escape, and half genuinely curious.

According to what Alice had told her earlier, they had been living in Forks for many years, and they had almost completely avoided detection, with the exception of Bella and the wolves, and of course other nomads passing through. She knew that the biggest contributor to this factor was not the overcast weather, but the incredible self-control the Cullens displayed. It had been difficult enough for Tayla with Renesmee, and she wasn't even fully human. They had been living around humans, going to school with them, even socializing with them for years, not to mention all their years in other towns and cities. And that was nothing compared to what Carlisle was doing- working in a hospital, being around blood every single day, and never once coming close to losing control. Tayla couldn't even imagine herself ever having that type of control, but Alice assured her time and time again that it would become easy over the years.

There was another thing Tayla found very interesting. While not the case with every immortal, many of the Cullens had... gifts, powers unique to each vampire. Alice could see the future, Edward could read minds, Bella was a shield against gifts affecting the mind, Jasper could influence moods, and she was told that Renesmee could project images into your head with one touch. Of course every vampire had their recognizable quality that had been enhanced during the change, some just took on more supernatural ones. As far as everyone knew, Tayla had no special gift, but she may just have not discovered it yet. Some gifts aren't always as obvious as ones like Alice's and Edward's.

At that moment, Tayla half turned her head as Alice danced into the room with Jasper following at her heels. Instantly she felt more at ease, and that wasn't even with help from Jasper. It was that strange feeling Tayla got that she could trust Alice, and she felt more comfortable anyways with her around, seeing as she had been traveling with her for those few days.

"I hope we didn't miss anything exciting," Alice said as she settled down on the ground in front of the couch, even though there was plenty of room for her next to Tayla. "Oh, I love the new dress Tayla! I found it while shopping in Olympia a few weeks ago, and I'm so glad it fits you. You know, that color really suits you."

Tayla had to smile. It didn't take long to get to know these things about Alice. It had taken the young girl approximately thirty minutes of talking to know that she more than loved to shop, and often took day trips to Olympia or Port Angeles for the better stores.

"Well, I guess I'm lucky you have such good taste," she replied, adding with a laugh, "I bet you'd pick out better clothes for me than my mom did."

Alice let out one of her tinkling laughs, and was quickly joined by most of the others, who were glad the situation had lightened up. Tayla hadn't even noticed Jasper standing next to the couch, and was slightly startled when he spoke.

"Rosalie," he said her name, almost in a warning. Tayla looked up to her to see that her gaze had not shifted since she last made eye contact. When Jasper spoke, she sighed, and finally looked away.

"Sorry," she mumbled, before disappearing upstairs. Emmett turned from the game as if to follow her, but Alice jumped in before he could.

"I think I should go talk to her this time," she said, and took off up the stairs without waiting for an answer.

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><p>The whole No-Cullens-Allowed rule on the Reservation never seemed to apply to Renesmee. Whether it was the fact that she wasn't fully vampire, or that Jacob had imprinted on her, or that she was generally likeable, she was free to come as go as she pleased. That ended up being very useful when she had need to stay away from the house for a few days, until Tayla could be ready to have her around. After a conversation with Bella and Edward, Jacob had agreed it was safest for her with him, and so he phased just outside their house and quickly but carefully took her across the border. He phased back when they were within walking distance of his house, but still carried her on his shoulders.<p>

"So Nessie, what do you want to do for the next few days?" Jacob asked her. Instead of replying out loud, Renesmee pressed her hand down to his cheek to send him images of what she wanted to do.

_Swimming, playing on the beach, visiting Emily, seeing Quil and Embry and Seth, beating Jacob at video games..._

The images ended with the party they were having that night. It wasn't exactly a party, it was more of a get together. Even though he, Quil, Embry, Seth and Leah were in their own pack, they still hung out with Sam's pack frequently. After the confrontation with the Volturi, the tension between them had disappeared completely. They knew that they couldn't become one pack again- Jacob couldn't go back to being a follower- but being in two worked just fine for them. Wolves from either pack generally listened to either chief, but they listened to their leader for the final word. Then again, there wasn't much they needed to do that required orders. After the Volturi left, the young members of Sam's pack ceased to phase, as they weren't needed anymore. Those who remained were the original pack, Sam, Jared, Paul, Colin, Brady, and then Quil, Embry, Seth and Leah with Jacob. They did patrols every once in a while, but Jacob spent a good portion of his time at the Cullens with Renesmee. It wasn't easy for him to be away from her.

A question floated into Jacob's mind, courtesy of the girl on his shoulders. _How long do I get to stay with you?_

Jacob himself wasn't a hundred percent sure of the answer. Someone would call him when it was safe for Renesmee to return, but even Alice had a hard time judging when that would be. For the time being, she would be staying at Jacob's house. Then again, he barely even called it that anymore, because he often slept in the woods in wolf form near the Cullens house, in case anything happened with Renesmee, although nothing ever did. However, Billy always welcomed him back into the house when he wanted to stay there, and would be more than happy to accommodate him and Renesmee as long as necessary.

"I'm not entirely sure Nessie," he said in reply to her question, before adding jokingly, "Why, you think you're going to get bored of me that fast?"

Renesmee's laugh sounded in his ears, and in a moment she was leaning down to put her tiny arms around Jacob's head.

"I don't get bored of my Jacob," she answered. He laughed along with her the rest of the way home.

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><p><strong>I felt it would be important to let you guys know how things were going with the wolves, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. This seemed like a good way, and I hope I got all the details right from Breaking Dawn. I'm over halfway done re-reading Eclipse(I'm being slower than usual) and then I'll get right on it. So, what did you guys think?<strong>


	6. That's Just the Way Things Are

**Oh shoot- I just realized an important fact that slipped my mind in the last chapter. Apparently, somewhere in Breaking Dawn, Quil and Embry join Jacob's pack. Yeah, I totally forgot about that. Sorry. I'm going to change it so it says they're in his pack- you shouldn't need to go back and read it. Again, sorry.**

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><p>Rosalie wasn't completely surprised when it was Alice who entered her room after knocking briefly, walking slowly over to stand next to her at the window. It was usually Emmett who followed her when she needed a moment, but this time it was Alice she needed to talk to.<p>

Through the years, their relationship as pretend sisters had been meaningful to them. Before Bella came, it was just the two of them, as Esme was more of a maternal figure. Rosalie had never had a sister before, and she had very much wanted one in her human life. Of course she had Emmett for fifteen years before Alice and Jasper joined them, but sometimes she longed for someone to talk to who would understand her, like the sister she never had. Rosalie also knew that Alice was the only one who would really understand at the moment.

Neither of them said anything for a minute, just staring out into the mostly quiet forest, save for the normal backgrounds noises they heard, such as the stream behind their house.

"I'm sorry about before," Rosalie finally spoke up, an apologetic grin on her face. "I expect I don't need to explain what that was about."

Alice nodded in agreement.

"No, I understand," she replied. "But I think you have it wrong."

"Do I? Are you not going to take care of her, to teach her in this life? To be like her new mother..."

"I doubt she would ever think of me that way Rose," Alice explained. "Besides, part of her hates me for not killing her when I could have. She doesn't want this, but I knew there had to be a reason to save her."

"I completely agree with you there, but..." Rosalie trailed off, hesitant to explain. "I'm going to sound selfish for saying this, but it doesn't seem fair. Esme has all of us, Bella has Nessie, and now you have Tayla. There's nothing I want more in this world than a child of my own, and it seems like everyone else is getting what I've been dying to have for almost a century." Her eyes flashed to Alice for half a second. "I have nothing against anyone else getting what they wanted, but that doesn't make it any better."

Alice considered that for a fraction of a second. Rosalie was making perfect sense. She had wanted a child more than any of them, and now with Tayla here, it seemed very unfair. However, all considered, there was little any of them could do about that.

"I understand how it feels to you," she said. "But think of it this way. With all that has ever happen in our family, I highly doubt this will be the last time we get ourselves into trouble of this sort."

"Did you see something?" Rosalie asked hopefully.

"I haven't seen anything like that yet, but I have a feeling you'll get what you want when this situation has died down. After all, the Cullen family can't stay normal for very long."

Rosalie laughed at that, the conversation effectively lightened.

"I can't think of a time we could ever be called normal," she said, causing Alice to laugh as well. "But thanks, for coming up to talk to me. I didn't want you to think I was thinking badly of you for this. I think it's great that you're helping Tayla."

At this, Alice's smile fell of her face, as she stared thoughtfully out over the forest. Rosalie noticed this and waited patiently for her to speak.

"I'll help her as best I can," Alice said after a short pause. "After all, I was the one who saved her and brought her here. The best I can do for her is to show her how to accept this life. She may not be happy with it, like you weren't at first, but I'm sure she'll manage see the brighter side of what happened."

Alice's eyes glazed over for a second, staring into the unsure future, and she smiled. As if in response to her previous comment, the sun broke through the cloud layer once again, illuminating parts of the forest. Rosalie laughed at the irony.

"Yes, I'm sure you'll have no trouble there."

Alice laughed along with her, until she had another quick glimpse into the future and straightened up.

"Well, Tayla needs me," she said. "Or she will in a minute. Let's go."

Alice grabbed Rosalie's hand and pulled her out of the room and down the stairs to their waiting family.

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><p>The silence in the room wasn't an awkward one. It would have been had Jasper not been there to control it, but that didn't make Tayla any more comfortable as she waited for Alice to return. Oh, there was still the television on, but that noise was easily drowned out by her racing thoughts.<p>

One of her thoughts was focused on the members of the Cullen clan- or family, as Alice said they were. From what she had already seen, every one of them was so different, and yet, so alike at the same time. Joined not only by their lifestyle, but also by their unyielding connection to one another. It was unlike anything Tayla had seen before in her human life. They were their own strange little family, each one of them balancing the other perfectly.

The second thought was on the half-human girl, Renesmee. What if she came back, and Tayla couldn't control herself? What would they do to her if she killed her by accident? She doubted that she would ever get used to the smell of human blood, although it seemed the rest of them had been doing it for years. Tayla would try her hardest, but then again, she didn't have to try for very long, as she was planning on leaving soon. She had no idea where she was supposed to go, but she needed to get away from everyone.

The third and most prominent thought in her mind was backed up by the flash of fire in her throat. She winced slightly, and then hoped that it went unnoticed. She was thirsty again. Tayla's eyes flickered around the living room, wanting to say something about it, but unsure how to go about it. Alice had told her all of their names, but she barely knew them, and yet she was supposed to be perfectly comfortable with them. Luckily for her however, the other vampires in the room were usually very observant.

"Is there something you needed Tayla?" Esme asked her with an inviting smile on her face. Tayla hesitated for a second, but her thirst won over in the end.

"I'm thirsty," she mumbled, hoping that was normal enough to say. She averted her eyes from the others who were watching her, staring at her hands in her lap.

"That's expected," Carlisle said. "You're only days old. Someone can go with you."

"Is there anyone in particular you'd like to go with?" Esme asked her, although they all knew her answer already.

"Umm, Alice," she replied, still feeling only comfortable with her. As if on que- well, exactly on que- Alice bounded down the stairs with Rosalie right behind her. Rosalie flashed a small, apologetic smile at Tayla before going over to Emmett; Alice stopped right at the side of the couch, next to where Jasper still stood silently.

"Are you ready to go now?" she asked cheerfully, surprising Tayla for a second until she remembered Alice's power.

"Yeah, I guess so," she replied, feeling more at ease already. Alice smiled again, and started towards the open back door. Tayla stood up to follow, and then saw that Jasper had moved with Alice, intending to go with them. She hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then followed the two of them out the door and into the forest.

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><p>There was definitely one thing Tayla loved about being an immortal: the speed. Never in her life had she thought she could run so fast without having to worry about tripping or tiring or running into trees. Everything came as second nature to her as she was flanked by Alice and Jasper as she darted without thought through the darkening woods. However, the enjoyment was hidden by the heat in her throat, the burning desire to kill and taste blood to sate her thirst.<p>

Those thoughts did not please Tayla at all. She actually _wanted _to kill. Sure, it would only be an animal, but it felt so wrong to be doing it herself. She had eaten meat countless times before in her life, and yet, this felt different. She had never been the one draining the life from a helpless creature. Once she truly began hunting, she wouldn't care what she was doing, but until she caught the scent of blood, she was able to think like a human.

Like a _human. _What a sick joke. If she was thinking like a human she would be appalled by the very thought of taking another creature's life. But like a vampire made her sound like a monster, like the thirst-crazed newborn she would be in a few short moments. Another phrase popped into her mind. _Like a Cullen. _Yes, until she caught the scent of blood, she was able to think like a Cullen. That made much more sense to her. From what she knew, thinking reasonably came as second nature to them, even during the hunt. If she ended up staying with them, she could-

Her thoughts were cut off rather suddenly when it happened. Tayla's lips curled back, exposing her now razor sharp teeth. Her eyes grew wild, and fire flashed through her throat, much hotter than before. Her speed increased in response, and even Jasper was helpless to control her as the hunt began.

Tayla wasn't thinking anymore. She didn't need to. She acted purely on instinct, unable to comprehend anything but the smell. All considered, it wasn't the most amazing thing she had ever smelled. Renesmee had been about a hundred times more appealing, and yet the scent of lone mountain lion carried in on the wind was enough to drive her senses mad in her newborn state of mind.

Humans would have a hard time understanding how it was for her, because they're all so ruled by their minds, and by reasonable thinking. During the hunt, a newborn vampire becomes exactly like a starved animal. The mind runs on its natural instincts, reacting in the way that will get it what it wants. For a vampire, that meant it wouldn't stop until blood was spilled.

She was far past caring what she was about to do. She could barely even hear the two vampires in pursuit of her, making sure they were close enough to restrain her if necessary, but far enough away that she wouldn't feel threatened. Tayla was closing in on the mountain lion; she could feel it as well as smell it. A sudden and unexpected rush of excitement flashed through her mind for the briefest moment, before being covered by the thirst. Some distance part of her mind counted the time. It took exactly nine and a half seconds before she found the mountain lion.

It was just finishing off its own small kill on the ground; the not-quite-so-appealing smell of whatever it had been was almost completely covered by the mountain lion. It didn't hear her approach, her bare feet gliding over the rough terrain. However, it did notice when she tackled it to the ground.

It was much too quick for any human to see. Within two seconds, Tayla had her teeth in its neck and felt the blood rushing down her throat, soothing the intense burning feeling that had become more prominent the second she had smelled it. A few seconds later and she had completely drained it. In a flash she was upright again, finally able to think clearly. When she looked down at herself, she sighed.

"I liked this dress," she mumbled, hearing laughter in response. She glanced up to see Alice sitting in the nearest tree, perched on the lowest branch, with Jasper standing underneath her. Tayla forced a laugh as well at her appearance, but Jasper wasn't fooled.

"Don't feel bad about it," he said. "Either you kill animals or you kill humans. This is how we survive. It doesn't take long to get used to the idea."

Tayla sighed and shrugged, trying to ignore how wrong it felt now that she was done. Of course, her throat was burning less intensely now, which made her feel much better. She was still thirsty, and she knew she would need to continue hunting before she could return to the house. But it wasn't like they were short on time- just the opposite really. They had all the time in the world if she needed it.

"You actually did very well," Alice commented, jumping down gracefully to the ground. "Much better than your first time. And don't worry about the dress, I can find you another just like it if you want."

Alice did look slightly annoyed about the ruined dress, but she was more worried for Tayla, and how she was feeling about her most recent kill. Obviously it was hard, but when compared with the alternative, it made it a heck of a lot easier to accept.

"Alright, let's keep hunting," Tayla decided, having just caught the faint scent of elk on a small breeze. It wasn't nearly as appealing as the mountain lion had been, but she still needed to sate her thirst. Nodding their agreement, the three of them took off towards the smell to continue their hunt.

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><p>Tayla was feeling much better after she had drained a few elk from the small herd they had come across. Alice and Jasper had fed as well, but they mostly paid attention to Tayla, making sure she was handling herself alright. There had been a moment when she had just finished off three of them, and she paused to think about what she had just done, seeming more distressed than in her previous kills. However, with some help from Jasper and some comforting words from Alice, she was able to put those thoughts aside.<p>

"Overall, I'd say this is going well," Alice commented to Jasper while Tayla was busy. "It's not her first time, but on our way back we had just hunted whatever we came across, and never this many in a row. She doesn't seem as bothered by it as before."

"Yes, this is nothing like Bella was at first, but she has a lot of rationality for a newborn her age," Jasper agreed, unconsciously tightening his arms around her.

Alice smiled and leaned back into his embrace. They were standing leaning against a tree while Tayla chased down stray deer in a thinly wooded area of the forest. Having missed four days together, they felt that a certain amount of catching up was required, no matter how small. Of course, this would be a challenge with Tayla needing to be watched twenty-four seven, but there were six other perfectly qualified vampires to help out…

The thought trailed off as Tayla finished off the last of the deer, turning to face the two of them. Her dress was beyond help now- torn all down the skirt and almost completely covered in blood. Neither Alice nor Jasper had a single spot on their clothes with their years of practice.

"Done?" Alice asked the young girl, who looked embarrassed by her disheveled appearance. Tayla nodded, beginning to walk over to them just slightly faster than a normal human pace.

In the next five seconds, two things happened. First, Alice had a quick flash of a mere moment into the future, and she stiffened, sucking in a surprised gasp of air. Half a second later, a small breeze blew by them, swirling the irresistible scent around Tayla. She lowered into her hunting crouch, and a quiet growl slid through her clenched teeth.

Human.

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><p><strong>I like cliff-hangers. Not so much when I'm the one being left in anxiety over it, but they're fun to bug you guys with ;)<strong>

**I had a request for more Alice/Jasper moments- don't worry, there will be plenty more to come. I'll throw small ones in there wherever I can, as well as have several chapters dedicated only to them. Keep in mind however that this story is as much about Tayla as it is about them; by the way, let me know what you think of my OC! Her personality is an important part of this story. You'll notice it changes as the story progresses, as she begins trusting them more as well as having to deal with her mixed feelings about becoming a vampire.**

**Oh, and sorry I took too long to update- but don't worry, its winter break now and I have two weeks with nothing to do but write! **


	7. Every Moment Counts

**READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE. It has very important information about the story.**

**Okay, I'm setting an exact date on things now. If there's one thing I'm horrible at, it's setting up a time line that is in the correct order with the right amount of hours in a day. Technically, vampires don't need to worry about that much, but I want to be consistent in when it's sunny and when it's dark.**

**Now, I learned a couple more things, seeing as I got the Twilight Saga Official Illustrated Guide for Christmas. The year is 2007 in my story, and the month is May. The exact date it going to be May 21st as of this chapter. As for the time, let's say it's just getting dark out. I'm very sorry if this is inconsistent to what I've said before, but I'll be doing my best from now on to keep things as accurate as possible. Now, enjoy!**

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><p>"Stop her!" Alice shouted in the same second that Tayla darted off at unbelievable speeds into the forest. Jasper's arms released her and just as fast the two of them were racing after the thirst-crazed newborn.<p>

There was less than no room in Tayla's mind to think of anything. Her brain had completely shifted to survival mode, which could only process the need to get to that irresistible scent that was still blowing towards her in the wind. Humanity had been left far behind her; it was different than the last time she had caught the scent of a human. When she had been returning to Forks with Alice, the scent had been very old, and the trail was partially covered. This time, the human was there in the forest, with fresh blood coursing through its veins. It was an even stronger urge than when Renesmee had been in the same room as her. She was more vampire than human, and so the scent had been much easier to resist.

Unknown by Tayla, Alice and Jasper were still racing after her, matching her speed almost perfectly, but she had a half a seconds head start, and her newborn strength helped to push her faster. They did have one advantage though; they knew this forest as well as they knew their own house. It wasn't like running into a tree would slow you down, but avoiding them without thinking gave you just enough of an edge to catch up to your target.

Within half a minute, Alice gained just enough speed to get herself past Tayla. In her un-thinking state of mind, all she comprehended was that someone was in the way of her prey. She skidded to a perfect stop, still crouched low, and a snarl slipped out through her teeth. Jasper stood behind her, ready in case she tried to get around Alice. Ignoring his warning, Alice took a small step towards Tayla, followed by another, until she was standing a mere foot away.

Something clicked inside Tayla's head. She wasn't in any danger, except perhaps from herself. Very, very slowly, she straightened out of her hunting crouch, and Alice closed the distance between them. She bent to to Tayla's level, putting her hands on her shoulders, her following words gentle but firm.

"Listen to me Tayla. You're better than this. You can walk away right now. You're strong enough to do this. We'll help you. Just walk away."

Tayla was thinking enough to process the words, enough to know the meaning behind them. She felt the need to take a deep breath to calm herself even more, but knew that would be the opposite of helpful. Instead, the young girl squeezed her eyes shut for two long seconds, and then slowly opened them.

"_Get me out of here,_" she hissed through her teeth. Alice stood up straight, her hands still on Tayla's shoulders, and nodded once to Jasper. He moved to her other side, and Tayla didn't fight them as they whisked her away, through the dense forest, and far, far away from temptation.

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><p>"You reacted normally Tayla. No one thinks badly of you."<p>

Tayla sighed and flicked her hand ahead of her to move away the branch. However, with the force she was unconsciously exerting, the branch snapped off and flew a dozen metres away, splitting in two when it made contact with a tree. She rolled her eyes and went back to letting the branches harmlessly hit her, as if they were feathers caressing her skin.

Alice looked over at Jasper as they followed Tayla slowly through the forest back to the Cullen house. The human scent was long gone, and now Tayla was feeling guilty for being tempted. However, she felt an odd satisfaction knowing that she had been able, with some help, to walk away. Sure, the scent wasn't blowing straight at her when she had stopped, and Alice had needed to assist her, but in the end no human life was sacrificed.

They couldn't exactly have a private conversation, what with Tayla's sensitive hearing, but it was urgent enough not to wait until they got back. Besides, she was already feeling bad enough.

"That was impressive," Jasper muttered, following along at Alice's side. "Not so much as Bella was, but for a child, she has good control of her emotions. That doesn't mean we should risk anything more of course- we should have someone else come with us next time. But there is something about her, as you said before. Her emotions aren't quite as strong as the other newborns I've encountered, but they certainly are changing rather quickly. Maybe that is tied in somehow to a gift she may possess...?"

He trailed off on that thought, letting it set in for a moment. Alice considered it carefully, taking a second to search for their future, but again it was unclear. That was irritating, but at the moment not worth making a big deal over. She looked over to Jasper again, smiling when she saw how deep in thought he was. She reached her hand over to his, breaking him out of his uncertain reverie. He looked at her as well, allowing a smile despite the situation.

Tayla tried not to show that she was paying attention to her conversation, but in truth she was getting a little worried. Could they know what had been going on before? Did she even want them to know?

"Why are you doing that?" Jasper asked suddenly. Tayla half turned her head back, seeing that he was looking at her for an answer.

"Doing what?" she asked in confusion. She wasn't aware that she was doing anything noticeable.

"Hiding your emotions like that," he clarified as Tayla fell back slightly to walk alongside them. "I can feel it; you're trying to stop yourself from feeling something. I noticed it before, but only a little. Why would you need to do something like that? What could have happened in your human life that gave you need to hide your emotions like you are now?"

Tayla hesitated a second to long in answering. It wasn't that she didn't know, but she didn't want to bring any attention to it at the moment. How long had she known Jasper for? Since that morning? Maybe she would have told Alice, but she wasn't even sure about that.

Jasper sensed every emotion as they changed faster than natural, even for a vampire. For this to be still happening in her immortal life, it must have happened extremely often during her recent human days. She was such a young girl, and yet he was getting such a bizarre reading from her that he was even surprised. Why would a ten year old have such violent mood swings, but be in complete control of her emotions? And she was still a newborn, so it would have to be involved even more with her human life.

"I guess... I just found that if I showed people how I felt, I'd get hurt," Tayla finally answered, after a lengthy pause. She looked down after that, and began speeding up rapidly, going at a vampire pace rather than a human one. Jasper and Alice looked at each other worriedly, and then sped up after her.

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><p>"I'm worrying about this too much. I just need a minute to relax."<p>

When the three of them had returned to the Cullen house, Edward and Bella were back. Hearing what had happened on the trip through their thoughts, Edward raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Alice and Jasper told everyone what had happened, and Tayla was surprised that they weren't mad at her, not at all. In fact, Esme, Carlisle, Bella and Edward had seemed very sympathetic towards it, while Emmett remained mostly indifferent to the topic as usual and Rosalie wasn't exactly going as far as sympathy, but at least she looked more at ease than she had been before. The decision was simple and acceptable: when Tayla went to hunt, she would be accompanied by at least three of them, and they would scout ahead first to ensure no human scent would be in her path.

Maybe it was that that finally made Tayla decide to stay with them, at least for a little while longer. She had been planning on leaving as soon as she got back, even more so when she nearly ended a human life, but she could hear it in their voices as they spoke. They actually cared for her already, enough that they were willing to risk trouble with the Volturi to ensure her existence. When the Volturi had been mentioned, Tayla realized she knew little about them, and asked for further explanation. She could see that they were downplaying it for her, most likely to refrain from frightening her, but after hearing even a little of what they could do, and what they would do if they found out about her, was enough to convince her to stay. At least with the Cullens, she was protected by eight mature vampires who were going to treat her as family, despite the fact they had just met her and she would bring them nothing but trouble.

When the sun finally disappeared below the horizon, the Cullens were ready to go about their usual nighttime routines. Bella and Edward left for their cottage, Rosalie and Emmett decided to go hunt by themselves, and Alice and Jasper were craving more time alone. This was easily picked up by Esme and Carlisle, who were the other two who remained, and fortunately, they had anticipated the exact situation.

"Tayla, I have something I'd like to show you," Esme said, a hopeful smile on her face. "Would you mind coming upstairs with me?"

Tayla glanced at Alice, who nodded encouragingly. There was less than a seconds pause, and then Tayla drifted up the stairs after Esme and Carlisle. Alice smile wide. She knew what the surprise was, and she hoped Tayla would like it. They left the two of them alone, and so they made their way up to their bedroom on the second floor.

They had recently redecorated the large space, which was several times larger than your average master bedroom, with an attached closet that was larger still. There were many paintings on the walls as in the rest of the house, all of them priceless originals from one legendary artist or another. In the far left corner, there was a large work desk devoted to Alice's clothing designs, which was covered the entire surface in fabrics and sketches. A few odd tables were placed around the room, and against the left wall there was a black sofa, large enough to be comfortable but small enough to encourage close proximity to the other person seated there. A few metres in front of it was a huge flat screen television, measuring about seventy inches. The most noticeable feature of the room however, was the king sized bed against the back wall.

"We all have reason to be stressed right now, you more than most of us," Jasper said to Alice, addressing her previous statement. "Would you like me to help you calm down?"

Alice smiled, and instead of answering, leaned her head back against him, showing just how calm she felt. It was easy for her to feel calm like that, lying on the bed in Jasper's arms, able to ignore the rest of the world. That was pretty much what the bed was for, even though sleep wasn't even possible. The couch would have done just fine, but there's something more relaxing, even for a vampire, about pretending to be human in even that simple way.

A small smile crept onto Jasper's face as well, for despite the previous situation, he was happy in that moment. That was what really counted, that Alice was there with him, and, for the time being, safe. He worried about her too much, and he knew it, especially considering she was more than capable of protecting herself, but how could he not? She was his single reason for existence. Without her, he had nothing, and so he was determined to make the best of every single moment they got together. He certainly wasn't planning on wasting that night.

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><p><strong>You wanted more AliceJasper? How's that? The next chapter will have a lot more as well, as well as an even deeper look into Tayla's mind. I'm sure you're all very confused right now- sorry about that. There will be some interesting twists coming up, ones that you wouldn't be expecting, but I think you'll like how they turn out.**

**Oh yeah... Merry Christmas!**


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